Buying AND Moving When You’re Older?

Guest Blogger: Jim Vogel

Jim enjoys sharing valuable information with seniors and their caregivers. He focuses on helping ensure seniors are able to thrive throughout their golden years by sharing pertinent resources and information.

With the kids gone, your house can really feel empty and big. You’ve heard about other seniors selling their houses and moving into smaller ones. But is downsizing to a smaller home worth it? And how can you get everything you own moved at your age?

Buying a new home and moving into it can be stressful and even intimidating, but with some research and knowledge, you can make one of the biggest moves of your life.

Major Changes To Your Senior Lifestyle

Before you start imagining bringing the grandkids over to your cute new home, you need to think about the major changes this move will bring. You probably lived in your current home for a long time, so you’re used to its comforts and oddities. Getting a new home means making a big adjustment.

Take parking, for instance. If you’re used to having a big garage, what if you move into a small condo that uses an uncovered parking lot? What if you don’t have assigned parking spaces? Can you handle taking all those groceries from the car up to your new home? Many seniors

won’t have any problem with this, but such changes need to be discussed — and planned for — ahead of time.

Pick What Kind Of Home You Want

There are many types of housing out there for seniors. Here are some of the options you may want to consider:

Newly-constructed homes

Apartments

House rentals

Condominiums

Retirement communities

Patio homes

Getting a solid idea of the kind of home you want to find will help your house-hunting process go more smoothly. Keep in mind, too, that if you’re planning on deeding the home over to one of your children or grandchildren after your passing, you may want to get their input as well.

Getting Through The Big Move

You’ve done your homework, found the right place, and paid the downpayment. You’ve even started packing some of the stuff you should probably throw out, but don’t have the heart to. That leaves one big question: How will you move there?

Moving is more problematic for seniors, especially if you have health issues that limit your mobility or how much weight you can carry. The last thing you want is to ring in your new home life with an aggravated bad back. That’s why you need to spend time planning out your move.

First, look through your stuff and downsize. The less you have to move, the faster and easier that move will be. You don’t have to discard family heirlooms, but if there are items still in a box from your last move years ago, do you really need them anymore? You can always give things to your kids and grandkids that you want to keep around.

Next, figure out who can help you move. Your relatives are an obvious choice, but consider a professional moving company. Moving furniture and heavy boxes really is a young person’s game. Although moving companies can be pricey, they can keep you from injuring yourself and being in pain after the move.

Finally, make sure your moving day is thoroughly planned out. Don’t go into this stressful day thinking, “Eh, it will all work out somehow.” That’s a recipe for disaster. Instead, go nuts with the planning: Schedule the day, give everyone roles and tasks, and follow through with your plans on your actual moving day.

Buying And Moving Is Possible For Seniors

You’ve lived through some tough challenges in your life. That means you can certainly buy and move into a new home even as a senior. Just make sure you’re prepared for big changes to your life, that you picked out the right type of home, and that you have adequately planned for the move.